Dump truck removed from Shepherd field using tow truck and crane

Mid-Michigan tow trucks and cranes intervened Wednesday afternoon, a day after an accident left a 150,000-pound dump truck lying sideways in a Shepherd field.

Shepherd Police Officer Jay Janofski said the truck veered off the right side of Blanchard Road near Wise Road and continued to roll 290 feet into an empty farm field before coming to a complete stop in the soft ground.

“We usually don’t see this too often,” Janofski said.

Janofski said officers were dispatched Tuesday afternoon about 3:15.

The truck, belonging to Republic Waste Services, was on its side and partially full of garbage.

“We called a local wrecker company, got it uprighted, but they couldn’t get it out,” Janofski said.

Frankenmuth-based Krieger’s Towing was called to pull the truck out of the field Wednesday morning, but the operation was halted after the asphalt of the road began buckling and cracking.

“The county was notified of that,” Janofski said. “Isabella Road Commission showed up (Wednesday) and told them they were going to have to pull it out, they had to pick it up and remove it that way, because there was too much damage done to the road.”

A crane from Saginaw-based McNally and Nimergood was sent afterward to pull the truck out of the field.

Tim Bissell, who owns the property, said officials had considered towing the dump truck across the field before calling in the crane.

While damage to the property would have been minimal, Bissell said, the soft ground would not have made the tow an easy solution.

“We didn’t want to tear up the field anymore,” he said.

Bissell said he was arriving home Tuesday right when the truck stopped in the field, and the driver was still in the truck.

No information was given about how the truck veered off the road.

“It’s lucky nobody got hurt or anything,” Bissell said.

Randi Shaffer is a reporter at the Morning Sun. She can be reached at 989-779-6059, rshaffer@michigannewspapers.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/randi.shaffer